Lightly Fried and Baked Scotch Eggs Recipe

If you’ve ever thought about making breakfast in a more compact, portable, and delicious way, then the Scotch egg is the miracle product for you. It basically takes eggs, sausage, and toast and turns them into a singular, egg-shaped food delivery system. The crispy outside contrasts with the sausage, which in turn contrasts with the softer egg to produce a roller-coaster of texture combinations. It’s just simple food prepared in a fun, festive way that isn’t limited to breakfast. Scotch eggs are great for picnics, dinner, or even late night drinking snacks. This decadent dish found in English/Scotch pubs everywhere epitomizes comfort food at its finest.

1/2 teaspoon of salt only if you’re not using seasoned sausage and breadcrumbs

Equipment

Slotted spoon or ladle

Large mixing bowl

Three small bowls

Sharp knife

Fork

Tongs

Small sauce pot

Paper towels

Cast iron pan, baking sheet, or baking dish

Tablespoon and cup measurements

Directions

Bring a sauce pan full of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, carefully add in only six eggs one at a time using a slotted spoon or ladle. This is THE secret to getting eggs that peel easily and without tearing any of the whites (most of the time): Place cold eggs into boiling water and cook them at a boil for 9 minutes.Then take them out and cool them down immediately using cold water from the tap or an ice bath.

Once cool, carefully crack and peel the eggs before patting them dry with paper towels and set aside.

Now, set up your breading station by placing 1/4 cup of flour, a 1/2 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs, and 1 cracked and beaten egg into three separate bowls. Set them aside until you are ready to use them.

Finely dice three medium to large scallion sprigs.

In a large bowl add the 1 pound of sausage, the 1.5 tablespoons of dijon mustard, the 3 diced scallions, and the 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper. Pictured below is some salt as well, but if your sausage and breadcrumbs are seasoned, you don’t need to add any salt. If they’re not seasoned, you can add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Using your hands (put on some latex gloves if you want) mix up the sausage with the seasonings.

Divide up the sausage into 6 equal balls.

Take one of the sausage portions and flatten it out in your hand or on a plate. I just flatten them in my hands, but if a plate is easier just spread out the sausage until it is roughly a 1/4-inch thick. If the sausage sticks too much, you can dust your hands or a plate with a little flour or oil to keep it from sticking. Just be sure to keep the flour or oil only on the side of the flattened sausage that is touching a surface. Then place one of the cooked eggs into the center of the sausage before carefully closing the sausage around the egg. Make sure to seal up any openings, but don’t push too hard or you’ll squish the egg.

Now get your breading station ready to use. Place the sausage and egg ball into the small bowl with the flour to lightly coat the whole thing. Then move it to the bowl with the egg wash and lightly coat it again. Lastly move it over to the bowl with the breadcrumbs in it to coat and finish breading it.

Repeat the process with all of the scotch eggs and place them on a plate until you are ready to fry them.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Then, fill a small sauce pot with about a cup of oil (or enough so that there is an inch or two of oil in the pot. Set the stove to medium-high heat and get the oil to about 350 degrees F. If you don’t have a thermometer to check the oil, then wait until it starts to shimmer and move slightly. You can test the oil by dropping a little piece of breading into it. If the oil bubbles quickly around the breading, then it is ready. Fry one scotch egg at a time on each side until it becomes golden-brown. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to turn them over. Don’t fry too long because you will finish them off in the oven and they can go from golden-brown to dark brown very easily. Please note that there are some recipes that simply bake the Scotch eggs without frying. If you prefer that method for flavor or to save calories then complete all of the steps in this recipe, but skip the frying ones. Just bake the Scotch Eggs for 30 minutes or until the outside is a crispy deep golden-brown. They’ll be good, but not as good as the fry and bake method.

As each egg is finished frying, transfer it to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

After frying all of the eggs, place them in a large cast iron pan, a baking tray, or a baking dish. Put them in the oven and bake for roughly 15 minutes until they are a deep golden brown.

Remove them from the pan to serve immediately. If you are not serving them right away, then set them on paper towels or a cooling rack so that they don’t get soggy from any excess moisture that may have come out during baking.

Enjoy this crispy, filling, and delicious treat with coarse or whole grain mustard, hot sauce, or ranch dressing on the side!

Looks delicious! I have pork scraps to make sausage in the freezer right now. I am strangely enough a man that will not eat egg whites but love the yolks. I am going to make these but just using the yolks. They will be smaller and in my opinion better…lol. Thanks for sharing!

Hey Tony, thanks for checking this recipe out. Do you like scrambled or omelette eggs where the whites and the yolks are mixed? If so, you could try scrambling the egg inside the shell before boiling! Check out this YouTube video: http://youtu.be/aazP6zvJmiQ
Either way, let me know how they turn out!